Sunday, July 20, 2014

Mũi Cà Mau - the southernmost point of Vietnam

On the Cà Mau capeThe words mean "The national trig point GPS 0001"

26 September 2009 - After traveling for 2 hours by plane from Hanoi to Cần Thơ, 4 hours by bus from Cần Thơ - Sóc Trăng - Bạc Liêu - Cà Mau and then 2 hours by water taxi, I reached the Cà Mau cape (Mũi Cà Mau), which is the southernmost point of Vietnam. This is one of my dreams that came true. As some of you have not been to Vietnam, let me explain a little bit about Vietnam. The country looks like an "S" shape. It borders with China in the north, Laos and Cambodia in the west and has a long coastline (3260km). The northernmost point of Vietnam is the Nho Quế river which runs between steep mountains. The other side of the river is China and on our side, there is Xéo Lủng village where about 100 H'mong ethnic people are living. Only soldiers in charge of border guarding make patrol in this area and it often takes them one or two days to go along the border line. We travelers are not allowed to reach this sensitive area. The national trig point that we can visit is placed at Lũng Cú near this area (see the link below).

The southernmost point of Vietnam is the Cà Mau cape. Every year the cape naturally extends about 80-100m into the sea through deposits of sand. Our guide joked that the northernmost point of Vietnam looked like a conical hat, while the southernmost point looked like a big toe.

The southernmost pointof VietnamThe boat in this photo is placed at the southernmost point of Vietnam. The red words on the boat "Cà Mau cape 8°.37'.30'' Northern latitude and 104°.43' Eastern longitude". The boat looks small in this photo but it's very big in reality (Mũi Cà Mau, 8°.37'.30'' Vĩ độ bắc và 104°.43' Kinh độ đông).

We left Cà Mau city at 8am and it took us 2 hours to travel from the city to the southern tip (100km river way). Our 25 seater water taxi was going along the Bảy Háp river towards the southern tip and on the way we passed by local houses, Cà Mau floating market and Năm Căn district. The National Highway No. 1 starts from Km 0 in Lạng Sơn province (Friendship Pass, Vietnam - China border crossing) and runs along the whole country like a backbone and ends at Km 2300 in Năm Căn district (50km away from Cà Mau city). As I traveled by water taxi from Cà Mau, I missed the chance to take a photo of Km 2300 (I had a photo of Km 0 in my Nanning Blog). Km 2300 is the end of the road in Vietnam and from there to the southern tip, water taxi is the only means of transport in this area. We also saw the final ferry of Vietnam. There are many ferries along Vietnam, but the ferry in Năm Căn is the southernmost one.

During the first hour of the trip, the weather was great. Whenever there was a water taxi coming from the opposite direction, the waves from it made our water taxi rise up and down like a car going over speed ramps. It was even worse when our water taxi went out to the open sea. The bad weather (rain and wind) made the waves higher. Our water taxi was struggling to go over the waves and the sea water got into our water taxi, even though the windows and the door were closed. I sat in the front of the boat, so my trousers and backpack were wet. Some old people on the tour were panicked and they said they would not want to go further, while two people started wearing life jackets.

Our water taxi from Cà Mau to the southern tipWe traveled by this 25-seated water taxi for two hours from the city to the southern tip and then back in the city in the afternoon.

The driver reassured us that everything would be alright, while he controlled the windscreen wiper with his hand (not automatically like cars) as the rain made all screens unclear. After we turned left and continued our way along the river, things were back to normal and we saw villages and mangrove trees along the banks. We passed by the Cà Mau cape national park before the water taxi stopped at the wharf and we stepped onto the Cà Mau cape (the southernmost point of Vietnam) in Ngọc Hiển district, Cà Mau province.

There are 3 must sees on the cape. A local girl, who was the guide on the cape, took us to the sites. The first place is the star which is the national trig point GPS 0001. The second place is the boat right on the cape with Vietnam's flag and on the boat there are the red words "Cà Mau cape 8°.37'.30'' Northern latitude and 104°.43' Eastern longitude".

In front of Mũi Cà Mau restaurantThis is the only restaurant on the Cà Mau cape. We had lunch at this place after visiting the national trig point.

We saw many piles driven near the place and they are used for embankment work. I asked our guide and he said that in the future when the cape further extends into the sea (80-100m per year), the piles will also be moved. After having lunch, we climbed up the observation tower and enjoyed the great view of the cape and mangrove forests. At 12:30pm, we had to go back to the boat as the tide was receding. The water taxi driver was afraid that it would be slow to get out of the area. So our total time on the cape was only 2 and a half hours, including lunch.

It took us another 2 hours to go back to Cà Mau city, but this time everything was smooth as our water taxi didn't go against the wind like in the morning. While waiting for our bus to come, I took photos of a snail and oyster shop on the pavement by the Cà Mau bridge, a python and snake shop, and next to it are rat cages for sale as the food for pythons and snakes. Snake meat is a popular food in the Mekong Delta and you also can find crocodile meat. Our guide said the locals also eat rats but I didn't see the food.

This is my last blog about the 5 day trip to the southernmost region of Vietnam. It was also my 4th visit to the Mekong Delta. There are 13 provinces in this region and I've been to 10 of them. September was an interesting month for me.

On the way to the southern tipOur water taxi is going along Bảy Háp river from Cà Mau city to the southern tip. A big ship is coming from the opposite direction.

At the beginning of the month, I was walking on the Vietnam - China border crossing and going up the mountains to see Bắc Hà Sunday market of the H'mong people. At the end of the month, I was on the other side of the country and even reached the southernmost point of Vietnam. Hopefully I will go to the Central Highlands of Vietnam (off the beaten path) in early December and visit the coffee plantations in this region.

Travel tips: When you go on Sinh cafe tours, they will take you to as far as Cần Thơ city (the biggest city in the Mekong Delta). You can go by local bus from Cần Thơ to Sóc Trăng and Bạc Liêu then Cà Mau. This route is off the beaten path and you will rarely see any foreign tourists. The distance from Cần Thơ to Cà Mau is 180km. If you go further to Năm Căn (end of Vietnam's road), it will be 230km from Cần Thơ. I heard that there is only one good hotel in Năm Căn, so it's better to stay in Cà Mau city. The bus is OK on the whole route. The problem is the local water taxis. I mean the safety when traveling by this type of boat. My Vietnamese friend used to travel by this boat and it was a scary experience as he said. Some local water taxis are not equipped with life jackets and they often stop on the way for picking up more guests. You can go by water taxi to the southern tip from either Cà Mau or Năm Căn.

View of the Cà Mau capeThis is view of the Cà Mau cape (the southernmost point of Vietnam) from the observation tower. It looks similar to the cape in the Vietnam's map. The building is the restaurant where we had lunch.

Note: As tourists, we are only permitted to visit Lũng Cú flag tower and cannot go farther as this is the frontier area between Vietnam and China.

Cầu khỉ (monkey bridge)This monkey bridge over canal used to be popular in the Mekong Delta. Now most of the monkey bridges have been replaced with concrete ones. This shot was taken when we were walking to the trig point on the Cà Mau cape.